


Sundering Seas

by musicneverdies1702



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Albus Dumbledore Bashing, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Atlantis, Book 6: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Eventual Happy Ending, F/F, F/M, Family Bonding, Family Secrets, Hermione Granger Bashing, M/M, Magical Inheritance, Magically Powerful Harry Potter, Manipulative Albus Dumbledore, Master of Death Harry Potter, No Horcruxes, Ron Weasley Bashing, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:47:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28374882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/musicneverdies1702/pseuds/musicneverdies1702
Summary: In long forgotten times, when one had to sail the seas in order to travel off their forsaken pieces of land, sailors singing shanties on the decks of their vessels thought of naught but cresting the next wave, surviving until the next day. But when the night came and the seas seemed to still, when nothing but open sea could be seen for miles and land was a distant dream, when reaching the horizon line brought nothing but more endless blue, they lay in their beds listening to the crashing of the waves and began to wonder. They wondered if the seas were as lonely as they seemed. They wondered if the space between continents was as much of an empty void as it appeared to be. They wondered and they hoped, for when the dawn came and they were back on the deck in the brisk morning air, they wanted to be part of something larger than their simple ship. They wanted the fathoms below to contain more than fish and sea creatures. They thought it might, but never really knew for sure. They never knew that they were right.A woman claiming to be Harry’s sister approaches him at Privet Drive on July 31st, 1996. She speaks of another world, one of peace and plenty, ruled by a benevolent leader. She speaks of Atlantis.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Marius Mercator (OMC)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 45





	1. Prologue: Stolen Son

**Author's Note:**

> I've always been fascinated with the myth of Atlantis, so this fic is really for me to explore my guilty pleasure. When Spirits Call will still be my main priority though.
> 
> There will be no Horcrux hunt in this one. I am already dealing with that in When Spirits Call and The Black Fortune, it'll just give me a headache to do it here. No worries, the prophecy is still in play. I will also add that although there are no Horcruxes, I didn't say that Dumbledore knew that.

_ November 4, 1981 _

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore was a very happy man indeed. 

The loss of James as a trained Auror was lamentable, but Albus supposed it worked out better for him in the long run. Yes, having the boy grow up with Vernon and Petunia would ensure that he came to Hogwarts as the malleable child Albus wanted.

He’d had one hell of a time trying to find the  _ puer quartus mare  _ the Trelawney woman had gone on about in the prophecy. Everything pointed to the prophecy child being of Atlantean descent, but he’d run into one problem: no one knew where the blasted city was. Trawling through old tomes and esoteric texts only served to give him a massive headache. The continued existence of Atlantis wasn’t common knowledge, but Albus had plundered the depths of the world’s stockpiled written knowledge and the clues were there if you knew where to look, and look he did. 

The Order had been commanded to keep an eye out for any unusual foreigners visiting Britain, particularly those with children, but no leads were found. Albus had been about ready to admit defeat when the child himself was practically delivered to his front door. A couple with a newborn baby had been spotted exploring Diagon Alley and Alastor Moody had picked up on a strange magical aura surrounding them. Knowing of Albus’ request, Alastor had sent off a message Patronus and tailed the family to a Muggle hotel. 

One raid, several technically illegal bindings, and one  _ very  _ illegal binding later, the newly named Harry had been delivered to James and Lily Potter in exchange for their continued loyalty. 

Harry’s parents, Callum and Lucia as Alastor had found out, looked everywhere for their son for months. Albus had been confident in his work on the bindings, but was still relieved when they finally left Britain and returned home. He’d attempted to find out exactly where that home was, but the duo had been far too slippery and evaded all of the magical tracking methods in Albus’ considerable repertoire. 

Albus was aware that murmurs of dissent were making their way through the Order’s ranks and did everything he could to stomp them out. The Potters were the most headstrong, impulsive, and irritating family he’d ever had the misfortune to deal with, but delivering their fondest wish into their arms had cemented his place as a hero in the Potter’s eyes. 

Both Potters were unable to bear children, Lily because of a medical condition and James because of a particularly nasty hex from Dolohov during a skirmish between the Death Eaters and Auror forces. Before being carted off to Azkaban, Dolohov admitted that he’d been aiming for James’ head and was quite bitter that James had dodged. 

He hadn’t intended for them to die of course, but Voldemort was dead by the time Albus had found out about the attack and all he could do was send Hagrid to recover the boy. Albus rather thought he’d done the best he could with the situation at hand. Intimating to Lily that reconciliation with her sister might be in her best interest hadn’t worked, and now he had the perfect excuse to expose the child to the Dursley’s tender mercies. 

Everything had been taken care of, but Sirius Black remained a constant thorn in his side. The mangy mutt was utterly devoted to his godson and had even prevailed upon Hagrid to allow him to raise Harry. Fortunately, Hagrid was one of the few Albus could trust to blindly follow him into hell and back and had refused to hand Sirius the child. 

Then the man landed himself in a ministry holding cell. A little pressure on Barty Crouch Sr and a reminder of the overwhelming evidence against Black made sure that the mutt would be shipped off to Azkaban without a trial. 

Finally back in his office after confirming that Black had been transferred to a cell in Azkaban, Albus sank down into his chair and sighed. He knew he was condemning an innocent man to hell on earth, but he assuaged his guilty conscience by reminding himself that it really was for the greater good. A Chosen One raised by Sirius Black would not be amenable to Albus’ interventions and he simply couldn’t have that. 

On his perch in the corner, Fawkes gave a few short trills that immediately raised Albus’ spirits. Drawing out a bag of unlaced lemon drops from a pocket in his robe, Albus popped one in his mouth and hummed happily. Things were finally going his way. 


	2. Found

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a major world building chapter, so there's a lot of information to take in. Sorry for the info dump. Any questions you have will likely be answered in the next few chapters since they are also dedicated to shaping this world and introducing OCs. In any chapter where a new OC is introduced, I will include a character bio in the notes at the end of the chapter.

_Wednesday, July 31, 1996_

**10:00 a.m.**

“Why do I have to wear this blasted contraption?”

“It’s what the Muggle people Above wear! You can suck it up for two weeks, Marius,” Iulia snapped. “So help me, I will break every bone in your body if you get us caught because you don’t like pants.” 

Marius scowled at her and continued fiddling with the trousers he’d found in his pile of clothes. He’d only been Above twice before, once for the traditional trip and once for a scouting mission three weeks ago. 

“You should be grateful Alder got these for us at all,” Iulia said, pulling on her own pants. 

Marius snorted. “He’s been pining after your dad for years, I don’t think there’s very much Alder wouldn’t do for him.”

“True,” Iulia said thoughtfully. 

She slipped on the shoes Alder had picked out for her and put the bag she’d found her clothes in inside her pocket. Gazing out at the rippling waves of the ocean, she thought of her parents and the siblings she’d left behind. Sixteen years ago, her family had been destroyed by the loss of her baby brother, and now she was here to get him back. “I won’t fail you,” she murmured. 

“I’m ready, Princess,” Marius said cheerfully. 

“Don’t call me that,” Iulia sighed. “Do you have the Portkey from Alder?”

Marius held up a silver scale the size of his palm.

“Oh, Marius,” Iulia whispered, “You used your own scale?”

“It’ll get us as close to Privet Drive as we can go without tripping any wards or alarms,” he said quietly. “We can’t afford to screw up now, not when we’re so close.”

Iulia drew in a shuddering breath. “You’re right, of course. Do you have everything? Your focus?”

Marius patted his back pocket, nodding silently. “I’ve got my weapons as well, I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. Let’s go get your brother back.”

Iulia gave him a small smile and reached out to touch the proffered scale. 

“Hadrian.”

The strange pair disappeared from the beach without a sound, leaving behind no sign that they had ever been there.

* * *

**1:15 p.m.**

Harry Potter was not having a great sixteenth birthday. According to Aunt Petunia, he’d been about to burn the eggs when cooking breakfast, so she threw him out of the kitchen and made breakfast herself. He’d been allowed one scoop of eggs and a burnt piece of toast. He’d barely finished his milk when Aunt Petunia had whisked the plates away and sent Harry back upstairs. Having nothing else to do, he retreated to his room without a fuss. 

Harry had been reading his Herbology textbook for the last few hours when Aunt Petunia opened his bedroom door. 

“Yes?” he asked.

“The garden is in horrible shape. Go weed and water it,” she demanded. 

Harry sighed and put his textbook aside. Truth be told, it would be nice to go outside. He didn’t mind taking care of the garden, weeding was a calming task for him. 

“Yes, Aunt Petunia,” he said. 

She went to close his door and leave, but hesitated for a moment.

Harry raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“Happy birthday,” she said shortly, yanking the door shut.

Harry stared at the closed door in shock. It was very unlike Aunt Petunia to acknowledge his birthday, she much preferred to pretend that he didn’t exist at all. 

Shoving the weird interaction out of his mind, Harry grabbed his trainers and descended the stairs, shoving the shoes onto his feet before exiting the kitchen. He shut the back door before retrieving gardening tools from the shed, enjoying the gentle breeze that greeted him. 

Harry kneeled before the agapanthus section and began pruning the flowers and battling the weeds that sprouted there. Every so often, curls of hair would fall into his line of vision and Harry just frowned and tucked them behind his ears. 

Something strange was going on with his hair and eyes recently. Ever since he’d returned to Privet Drive after the battle at the Ministry, his hair had been gradually lightening in shade until it was a light brown. His eyes, usually a deep forest green, had brightened until they became light green. Harry also thought his skin was a few shades paler, something he hadn’t thought was possible. Since his hair was the most noticeable of the lot, Harry had told Aunt Petunia that he’d dyed it so she wouldn’t ask questions. 

Harry quietly hummed to himself as he worked. It was an unusually cool day, something Harry was grateful for as the minutes ticked by. 

After a while, the sounds of an argument gradually increased in volume until Harry couldn’t ignore it anymore. He stood up and brushed off his pants as best he could before investigating. 

As Harry rounded the side of the house and approached the street, he saw two people standing on the sidewalk in front of number two. A girl holding a map was talking to a boy who looked quite frustrated with her.

“It’s number four, right? Are you sure?” the girl was saying. 

The boy exhaled sharply and said, “If you don’t trust me, trust Alder, he’s the one who told us where to go,” he tapped the map in the girl’s hand for emphasis. 

“I know, I know, it’s just that we’ve got to be sure. We can’t have it getting out that we’re looking for him!” the girl responded.

At this point, Harry was fairly sure that they were talking about him, which confused him to no end. He doubted they were Death Eaters, Death Eaters wouldn’t have sent two teenagers to get him. They were also being fairly obvious, so Harry doubted that they meant him any harm. Nevertheless, he made sure that his wand was still securely in his front pocket before moving closer. 

“Can I help you?” he asked. 

They both started and turned to face him, the boy’s hand making an aborted motion toward his back pocket. 

“I — oh!” the girl gasped, her hand flying up to cover her mouth. The boy looked equally shocked, like he couldn’t believe Harry was standing there. 

“Can I help you?” Harry repeated, moving closer. He had no clue who these people were, but they weren’t setting off any alarm bells in his head. 

“Are you Hadrian — Harry Potter?” the boy blurted, getting an elbow to his ribs for his efforts. 

“Yes,” Harry said slowly. 

“In that case, can we talk? It, well, it’s kind of important,” the boy asked. The girl still looked like she’d been hit by a Bludger. 

Harry glanced back to number four, knowing that Aunt Petunia was the only one home, and made a split-second decision.

“I guess, do you want to come around the back?”

Both strangers nodded, so Harry led them to the garden and pulled out three folding chairs from the shed, giving one to each of them. They both carefully watched Harry set his own chair up and sit down before following suit. 

“Listen, I have no clue who you are and what you want with me, but I’ll hear you out,” Harry told them. 

Harry didn’t know why all of his self-preservation instincts — the precious few he had — had flown out of the window, but something in him was reaching out to the strangers and he wanted to know why. He examined the pair in front of him as they glanced at each other, clearly wondering how to begin. 

The boy was wearing a plain t-shirt and jeans, paired with trainers that looked brand-new. His long brown hair was tied back and he wore a necklace with a single tooth hanging from it. The girl was dressed similarly and she wore a locket clasped around her throat. Her black hair was also tied back and hung down to the small of her back. 

“I’m Marius Mercator,” the newly-named Marius began, looking at the girl.

“And I’m Iulia Aurelius,” she said, looking closely at Harry’s face. It seemed like she was waiting for a reaction from Harry, but Harry did not recognize either name and her face fell when that became clear. 

“I don’t really know where to start,” Iulia said, one hand reaching for her locket. “I think we’d given up hope of ever finding you.”

“Why were you looking for me?” Harry cautiously asked. One hand was on his wand just in case things went south, but he couldn’t deny that his curiosity was piqued. 

“This is going to sound crazy, but please hear us out,” Marius said. 

“I’m your sister, Harry,” Iulia admitted. 

Harry’s mouth nearly dropped open. A well of forgotten and repressed feelings came rushing back like a tidal wave. For years, he’d dreamed of some unknown relation taking him away from the Dursleys, but when he’d gotten his Hogwarts letter and learned of his parents’ true fates, he’d given up on that hope. He was the last Potter and nothing was ever going to change that. 

“But — how — why — are you sure?” he finished weakly. 

Iulia smiled tremulously at Harry. “You look just like our Mum, you know, there’s no mistaking those eyes. She’ll be sad to know that she cursed you with her uncontrollable hair, too,” she said. 

Harry tugged on a lock of hair self-consciously. Iulia didn’t know what he’d looked like before the changes started happening. Did that mean he’d been under a glamour for sixteen years?

Iulia took a deep breath and closed her eyes, a few tears trickling down her cheeks. Harry uncomfortably shifted in his seat, crying girls always made him nervous. 

“You were stolen,” Marius said, taking over the narrative. “Your parents took you to London as part of the traditional trip all parents take their kids on. They were staying at a hotel when they were ambushed. When they woke up, the room was destroyed and you were gone.”

“We looked for you everywhere. Dad was furious and Mum couldn’t stop crying. The Guard had members stationed Above for months, hoping they could discover who had taken you and where you’d gone,” Iulia told him. “Marcus took it especially hard, he was the one you favored, even over Mum. The Guard stayed here for two years, but Dad called them back home when it became too painful to keep looking.”

There were a million questions swirling in his brain, Harry didn’t have the slightest clue where to start. He had a family, apparently. A family he’d been taken from, a family who’d looked for him. A family he could’ve spent his childhood with. A pit of rage began simmering in his stomach, he was absolutely furious at whoever had torn his family apart.

Harry started with the simplest question he could think of, “Where’s home?”

Iulia bit her lip and glanced at Marius. Marius sat up straight, gesturing to Iulia that he’d answer. 

“This is where it might get to be a little too much for you to swallow,” Marius said apologetically. 

Harry snorted. He’d taken the news that he was a wizard rather well, and that had been life-altering. 

“We call our home Lyonesse, but you might know it better as Atlantis,” Marius revealed. 

This time Harry’s mouth did drop open. “You mean to tell me that you live in a city that’s underwater?” he sputtered. “How do you breathe?”

“Lyonesse is fully underwater, yes, but it wasn’t swallowed by the ocean like the Atlantean myths would have you believe. Our ancestors built the city for us when it became clear that living Above was too dangerous,” said Marius. 

“As for how we breathe,” Iulia interjected, “We survive underwater because we’re not completely human. We have human forms, but we rarely use them. Our Mer forms are what we spend our day-to-day lives in.”

“Like the merpeople in the Black Lake?” Harry wrinkled his nose. 

“No!” Marius exclaimed, making Harry startle. “Sorry,” he apologized, “The Mers that live in the Black Lake and in other places around the world are distant ancestors of ours, but they’ve corrupted themselves with Black magic. The Mer form we have look just like our human forms, but with a tail instead of legs.”

“They look like dolphin tails, but with scales,” Iulia explained. 

Harry lowered his head into his hands, rubbing his temples. This was a lot to take in at once. Part of him wanted to write them both off as crazy, but a warm feeling had started growing in his chest once they had started talking about Lyonesse and Mers. That, more than anything, convinced him that they were telling the truth. 

Harry decided to leave the whole ‘I’m secretly a Merman’ thing alone for now. He wanted to know why they hadn’t come for him before now. 

He took a steadying breath. “If the Guard — whatever that is — stopped looking for me after two years, why are you here now?”

Iulia immediately groaned, “Don’t get him started on the Guard, I beg you.”

“Shut up,” Marius glowered at her. “The Guard is Lyonesse’s army, for lack of a better word. We guard the city, make weapons, fend off predators, and hunt for food. Usually sharks, since those take multiple people to bring down. The general population takes care of the smaller prey.”

“And you’re a member of the guard, I take it?” 

“Youngest member in one hundred and fifty years,” Marius said proudly. 

“Congratulations,” Harry said, smiling at Marius’ obvious pride. 

“As for why we’re here now, we’re hoping you can help us answer that,” Iulia said. 

“How can I answer that for you?” asked Harry. He hadn’t even known of their existence until ten minutes ago. 

“When Dad recalled all of the Guard members still stationed Above, he didn’t completely give up. There are still wizards living here who are loyal to him because they have relatives living in Lyonesse that didn’t completely sever all contact when Mers moved Below. So, Dad used a borderline illegal ritual that harvested your magical signature from your favorite blanket and imbued two stones with the signature. One stone was a beacon and was left with a family Above, while he took the tracking stone Below. The beacon was supposed to glow if it detected any magic cast with your signature in the UK. If it glowed, it would cause the tracking stone to glow as well, and both stones could then be used to pinpoint your location,” Iulia explained. She reached into her pocket and drew out a perfectly round stone. A green light was emanating from within, gently pulsing every now and then. 

Harry took the stone from her and turned it over in his hands. The moment he touched it, the light stopped pulsing and the stone grew warm. 

“Dad put his stone in the Grand Hall. Guards are posted there twenty four hours a day, so if it ever glowed, someone was bound to see it, “Iulia went on. “It stayed dull as the years went on. Every year on your birthday, the six of us spent the day in the Hall and just talked about you the whole time,” Iulia gave a broken laugh.

Marius held out his hand and Iulia took it, squeezing hard. Harry’s heart broke, knowing that his absence had caused so many people so much pain made him immeasurably sad. Then and there, he swore to himself that he would find the person responsible and make them pay. 

Marius took over the tale, still holding Iulia’s hand. “I was on duty when it happened. The stone, the one you’re holding now, rattled and fell off the pedestal, glowing so bright my mum saw it from her house. None of us moved for a good minute, we were all too stunned. Then there was a scramble to get the stone and find King Callum. Alder Fawcett, the one with the other stone, contacted Cal to tell him that his stone had also gone crazy.”

Harry was pretty sure there was a Fawcett in his year, but he’d never interacted with the kid. Pushing that aside, he focused on the stone in his hand. 

“When did this happen?” he asked. 

“June eighteenth,” Iulia said. 

Harry clenched the stone in his hand so hard, it started cutting into his palm. Ignoring the pain, he pushed on. 

“That was the day I fought Lord Voldemort.”

Iulia’s grip on Marius’ hand tightened drastically and he yelped, yanking his hand back and nursing it. “Watch it,” he complained. 

“You fought Voldemort?!” Iulia yelped. 

“It wasn’t strictly a fight, he possessed me and I pushed him out. I’m told there was a visible burst of magic that came from me when I expelled him, but I didn’t see it.” Harry told them. 

“That would’ve done it,” Marius agreed. “Anyway, King Callum put together a bunch of scouting missions and we gradually narrowed down your location to this house,” he waved toward number four. 

If that magical outburst caused the stones to suddenly be able to find him, it might have destroyed whatever glamour was hiding his true appearance. Harry wasn’t used to the brown hair and light green eyes yet, but evidently there was no going back. Harry was tired of being called a carbon copy of James Potter anyway, so it wasn’t too bad.

Something Marcus said caught Harry’s attention just then, something about the King. 

“Why was the King so involved?” Harry asked. 

“You don’t — right, of course you don’t know,” Iulia said ruefully. “King Callum Caius Aurelius is our Dad.”

“I’m royalty?” Harry squeaked. Embarrassed, he cleared his throat. “I’m royalty?” he tried again.

“You’re the fourth of five kids,” Iulia smiled. “I was sent to come get you because I’m the least noticeable and we wanted to keep a low profile. Mum and Dad couldn’t come because they didn’t want to attract the attention of whoever took you in the first place. We figured no one would pay any attention to a girl travelling with her boyfriend,” she scowled at that last part.

“Honey, you wish,” Marius laughed.

“Iulia I get, but why you?” Harry asked Marius. 

“I’m young enough to pass for Iulia’s boyfriend and I’ve got magical power to spare,” Marius shrugged.

“Marcus wanted to come but Dad refused to risk his Heir,” Iulia added.

“Marcus?”

“Our oldest brother,” she clarified. 

“Will you tell me about them? Our family?” Harry asked, desperate for more information. 

Iulia smiled sadly at Harry, reaching up to unclasp her locket. She pried the two sides apart with a fingernail and passed it to Harry, trading it for the stone he still held. 

“You should have grown up with us, Harry, and I will forever regret that we missed your childhood,” she lamented. 

Harry looked down at the gold locket in his hands. The body of it was oval and a stylized I was engraved on the front. Turning it over, Harry saw that Iulia had inserted two wizarding pictures. 

On the left, two adults were sitting on paired thrones. The female’s hair and eyes matched Harry’s exactly, and she was holding a baby who was waving his fist sleepily. Her tail was a beautiful dark blue colour and the tip of a tail was poking out from the blanket the baby was wrapped in. The picture was too small for Harry to make out the colour of the baby’s tail. The woman was looking at the baby with such a tender expression of love that it made Harry’s heart ache. He assumed that this was his mother and himself as a newborn. 

Harry turned his attention to the other people in the picture. Next to his mother was a man Harry took to be his father. The man was sitting on his throne proudly, one hand on the armrest of his throne and the other on the shoulder of a small boy who was grinning wildly. His father had black hair that was tied back in the same style as Iulia’s, and ice blue eyes that seemed to dance with laughter. His tail was hooked over the edge of his seat, the green scales gleaming. 

The boy his father had his hand on looked just like the man, but with dark green eyes. Next to that boy was a younger version of Iulia, who was sporting a purple tail that waved back and forth occasionally. Iulia was holding the hand of a little boy who looked to be around two or three. The boy was waving madly at the camera, his brown hair bouncing up and down. He had blue eyes like the older man, and a fiery red tail, which made for a startling contrast. 

In the picture on the right, the adults and Harry were missing, but older versions of the other three kids were lined up with their arms around each other, along with a blonde girl who hadn’t been in the other picture. 

Harry looked back up to see Iulia trying to hold back tears and Marius fiddling with his hands, looking just as uncomfortable with crying girls as Harry was. 

“What are their names?” asked Harry, tracing the outline of the locket.

Iulia got up and dragged her chair next to Harry’s. She sat back down and leaned over so she could see the pictures. 

“The man right there,” she pointed to the picture on the left, “That’s Callum Caius Aurelius, the King of Lyonesse and our father. He hates Callum though, so he tells people to call him Cal. The woman next to him is Lucia Sabina Aurelius, the Queen. She’s holding you, I think you were around six months old when this was taken. You were born Hadrian Valens Aurelius, by the way.”

She moved her finger over to the boy next to Callum. “That’s Marcus Seneca Aurelius, firstborn and first in line for the throne. You preferred him if you weren’t with Mum or Dad and he absolutely adored you. I’m the next oldest, right there next to him, Iulia Corin Aurelius. I’m holding Trajan’s hand, he must be around two here. His full name is Trajan Soren Aurelius, and he’s our resident troublemaker.”

Iulia moved over to the picture on the right, tapping the face of the blonde girl. “This was after you were taken. Mum and Dad had always planned for us kids to be two to three years apart, but Cassia Tatiana Aurelius was born five years after you were stolen. I think they blamed themselves a bit for your abduction, so they put aside the idea of having more kids and focused on finding you. To this day, I’m not sure if she was an accident or not. She was five in this picture, she’s eleven now.”

Iulia sat back in her chair, letting Harry look his fill. “Like Dad, Cassia hates her full name and prefers to be called Cass,” she laughed. “She helped us to heal, but no one could ever replace you. She’s grown up seeing pictures of you and hearing our stories about you. She’s very excited to meet her big brother.”

“She won’t shut up about it, you mean,” Marius corrected. “She’s a bundle of energy, that one.”

“She is,” Iulia agreed. 

Harry mourned for the life he could have had. Parents and siblings were all he’d ever wanted, and now two living parents and four sisters and brothers had dropped into his lap. Harry gently closed the sides and gave the locket back to Iulia, who clasped it back around her neck. 

“When do we leave?” Harry asked. 

“You want to go back with us?” Iulia questioned.

“Isn’t that why you’re here?” Harry replied, suddenly unsure of himself. 

“Yes,” Marius said, “But we weren’t going to force you to come with us if you didn’t want to leave.”

“You’re both idiots if you think I’m not coming with you after finding out I’ve got a family,” Harry declared. 

Iulia grinned widely, looking extremely relieved. “In that case, we’ll be leaving on your birthday. We could tell through the tracking stone that your Mer form was suppressed. We don’t know how, or why, but we’re hoping that the magical boost you get when you come of age will break it and let you transform.”

“That’s today, though,” Harry said, confused. “And I’m not coming of age, I’m turning sixteen.”

“Today’s not your birthday,” Iulia scoffed, “Who told you it was?”

“I —” Harry frowned. He remembered Aunt Petunia telling him July thirty-first was his birthday, but he didn’t know if Lily Potter or someone else had told her that. 

“I don’t know, but you’re saying my birthday isn’t July thirty-first?”

“No, you were born August tenth! You’ll be seventeen in ten days,” Iulia told him. 

Harry’s head spun. Not only had he been celebrating his birthday on the wrong day, he was a full year older than he thought he was. 

_Born as the seventh month dies…_

What did this mean for the prophecy?

Harry didn’t know, and he didn’t want to consider it just then. He was still wrapping his mind around being the prince of an underwater city. 

“So I’ll come of age, the boost in the magic will break the binding on my Mer form, then we’ll go back to Lyonesse. That’s the plan?” 

Marius nodded. “Pretty much. We just have to keep a low profile. Alder gave us enough money to rent a Muggle hotel room for the three of us.”

“What happens if coming of age doesn’t let me transform?” asked Harry. It seemed like a distinct possibility. 

“We’ll figure it out, don’t worry. We’re getting you back to Lyonesse one way or another,” Iulia said firmly. 

Harry nodded, comforted by Iulia’s confidence. 

“Well,” Harry stood up, “I guess I’d better go pack."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Character Bios
> 
> Alder Fawcett  
> Age: 47  
> Birthday: October 17, 1948  
> Appearance: Dark brown hair, brown eyes, average height, usually dresses in formal robes.  
> Alder is the royal family's main contact with the Above. He was in possession of the beacon stone that was linked to Harry Potter until it went off. Alder holds a not-so-secret torch for Cal. 
> 
> Callum (Cal) Caius Aurelius  
> Age: 41  
> Birthday: March 21, 1955  
> Appearance: Black hair, ice blue eyes, green tail.  
> Harry's father and King of Lyonesse. Benevolent King, good sense of humour. Weapon of choice is a spear. Took over from his father at 20 after his unexpected death. 
> 
> Lucia Sabina Aurelius  
> Age: 41  
> Birthday: November 13, 1954  
> Appearance: Light brown hair, bright green eyes, dark blue tail.  
> Harry's mother and Queen of Lyonesse. She is a strong advocate for justice and likes to emphasize the importance of being kind. Very talented with a variety of musical instruments. 
> 
> Marcus Seneca Aurelius  
> Age: 22  
> Birthday: September 24, 1972  
> Appearance: Black hair, dark green eyes, green tail.  
> Harry's oldest brother and Heir apparent. As a child, he was very carefree, but the loss of Harry turned him into a very serious child. Marcus is very dedicated to his studies and is determined to make his parents proud. 
> 
> Iulia Corin Aurelius  
> Age: 21  
> Birthday: January 7, 1975.  
> Appearance: Black hair, dark blue eyes, purple tail.  
> Harry's older sister. Iulia was chosen to retrieve Harry after the Guard and Alder pinpointed his location. She is very headstrong and will disobey orders if she thinks she has a better way of doing things. She prefers verbal sparring but can and will wipe the floor with her opponents. 
> 
> Trajan Soren Aurelius  
> Age:19  
> Birthday: April 30, 1977  
> Appearance: Light brown hair, ice blue eyes, red tail.  
> Harry's second oldest brother. Trajan takes pleasure in pranks and general mischief and mayhem. Not very studious but bright in his own way. Very loyal and prone to getting into fights to defend someone else's honor. 
> 
> Hadrian (Harry) Valens Aurelius  
> Age: 17  
> Birthday: August 10, 1979  
> Appearance: Light brown hair, bright green eyes, purple tail.  
> The Harry we all know and love, just with a tail. He is more suspicious of Dumbledore than in canon and also less attached to Ron and Hermione. 
> 
> Cassia (Cass) Tatiana Aurelius  
> Age: 11  
> Birthday: February 16, 1985  
> Appearance: Blonde hair, dark green eyes, dark blue tail.  
> As the youngest of five, Cassia is somewhat spoiled. Everyone is very protective of her since she was born after Harry's abduction rattled the city. She is very energetic and keeps everyone on their toes. 
> 
> Marius Marcellus Mercator  
> Age: 18  
> Birthday: March 9, 1978.  
> Appearance: Light brown hair, brown eyes, silver tail.  
> Youngest member of the Guard in 150 years, and will tell anyone who listens about it. Very proficient with a variety of weapons. Oldest of three kids. He takes his duty seriously, but has a good sense of humour. His family is close with the royal family and Marius is good friends with Iulia and Trajan.
> 
> I have a Discord server for my fics! Join for discussions about cloning, procrastination, google translate, and general mayhem.  
> https://discord.gg/PhguAGRTPs


	3. Song of the Sea

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a lot more worldbuilding in this chapter! I originally planned for this chapter to cover Harry's birthday and his resulting transformation, but it got too long for that since Iulia and Marius had stuff to say. The transformation and return to Lyonesse should be happening in the next chapter. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter and the sneak peek at what's happening Below!

_Thursday, August 1, 1996_

**1:00 p.m.**

Harry was standing out on the balcony, staring out at the undulating waves of the ocean. This was the first time Harry had ever seen the ocean, if you didn’t count that time Uncle Vernon had dragged them all to a hut in the middle of the sea, and he didn’t. Harry had barely been there for a day and most of that day had been spent in a daze since he’d just found out that he was a wizard. Now, he could fully appreciate the wildness of the ocean for what it was. 

Leaving the Dursleys’ house had been almost too easy. Harry had packed all of his belongings in his school trunk in fifteen minutes. He’d then debated with himself about what to do with Hedwig. She could not follow him to Lyonesse, no matter how much he wished she could. In the end, he’d written a letter to Ron asking him to take Hedwig in for the rest of the summer and Hedwig had taken off with a doleful hoot in his direction. 

When Uncle Vernon and Dudley had returned from their golfing session, Harry had told them and Aunt Petunia that he wouldn’t darken their doorstep again if they let him go without a fuss. Of course, Aunt Petunia had shrieked about needing Harry there to maintain the protection Dumbledore had promised them. At that point, Marius and Iulia had entered the house through the back door. Marius proceeded to inform the Dursleys that Harry was leaving and there was nothing they could do about it. 

In a rather stunning display of power, Iulia had removed a stone from her pocket — not the tracking stone she’d shown Harry — and bound the Dursleys to an oath of silence. The visible strands of magic swirling in the air had quieted everyone. The trio took their leave after that, not wishing to witness the fallout when the Dursleys regained their voices.

Marius had taken out a stone of his own then, told Harry and Iulia to hold on to his shoulders, and transported them all to a town near the coast called Brighton. It was remarkably similar to Apparating from what Harry had heard of it, but without the ‘squeezed through a tube’ feeling, which Harry was grateful for. The world had simply blurred around them and then they were standing in an alleyway. Iulia later told Harry that their method of travel was called porting.

The hotel room Marius had acquired for them had a balcony facing the ocean and as soon as Harry had stepped foot inside their rooms, he’d been drawn toward the deck. His first glimpse of the water had stirred up a feeling in his chest, an insistent tug calling him to the waves. The sea sang to him and a primal instinct within Harry urged him to sing back, but the words did not come.

The sting of the wind whipping against his cheeks brought Harry back to reality and his hands curled around the balustrade. There was so much he did not know, so much he _needed_ to know. Much of his time at Hogwarts had been based on a bed of lies, and when they had crumbled away, Harry had been left flailing and unsure of which direction he should go. 

“Harry,” Iulia’s voice suddenly rang out, accompanied by the screeching of the glass door as she pulled it shut. She joined him at the edge of the balcony, bracing her forearms against the railing. 

“How are you?” she asked. 

“Confused. Nervous. Scared. Excited. There’s a lot going on and I’m not entirely sure how to make sense of it,” Harry said. 

“We don’t expect you to, not right now. You’ve just had your life turned upside down,” Iulia said. 

Harry finally looked up at her, finding no more details to examine in his fingers. She was staring at the horizon with a melancholy look adorning her face.

“It’s hard, isn’t it?” she said abruptly. “Feeling the call and not being able to do anything about it?” 

The wind had picked up stray wisps of hair that had escaped Iulia’s braid and waved them about in a merry little dance. She reached up to tame some of them into submission, still looking away from Harry. 

“The call comes for us all when we spend any amount of time on land. It’s our own personal beacon, a light to guide us home. To remind us that we’re not where we belong,” she continued. 

“Home,” Harry repeated. _Home._ It was such an unfamiliar concept to him. 

“Home,” Iulia agreed. 

All was quiet again as the siblings wandered in their thoughts, listening to the sound of the rushing waves drumming out their siren call as they pounded against the sand. 

“Last night —“ Harry said, faltering.

“Yes?” she prompted.

“Last night, I had a dream. I was very small and there was a woman standing over me, singing. My dreams are almost never just dreams, so I wondered if it meant anything to you.”

“What was the song?”

Harry cleared his throat and waded through his hazy dream memories in search of the lyrics. The woman had had a lovely singing voice, a rich, high soprano. Her eyes, he was not likely to forget her eyes in a hurry. They were green, the same shade as his own. 

“ _Hush now, my darling, close your eyes and sleep; waltzing the waves, diving in the deep_ ,” Harry sang. His voice trembled at the beginning, but gained strength as he went on. 

" _The stars are shining bright, the tide is on the rise; whispering words, of long-lost lullabies,_ ” Iulia had joined in now, her soprano wrapping around Harry’s tenor and gifting the words with a lilt that carried them that much higher on the breeze. 

They sang together, “ _Oh won’t you come with me, where the streets are paved with gold; and in the morning sun, we’ll be swimming free. I had a dream last night, and heard the sweetest sound; I saw a great white light, and dancers in the round. Oh won’t you come with me, where the city meets the sea; and as the waves roll by, we’ll sing the song of the sea._ ”

The last words stole away upon the wind and Harry and Iulia were left staring at each other in wonder. Harry had never considered himself to be a particularly good singer but that performance had been, well, magical. 

“Mum sang that lullaby every night to put us to sleep. I’m told that Trajan was difficult to put down for his naps as a baby, but if Mum sang that song he calmed right down,” Iulia said. 

Harry smiled, imagining a squalling baby with a tiny, vibrant red tail being quieted by the woman he remembered standing over him. She’d had her long hair tied back, as seemed to be the standard for those with hair longer than shoulder length, although he only had Iulia and Marius to go off of. 

It was nice to have a memory of his mum that didn’t involve a horrible empty void and a green light exploding into being, accompanied by Lily’s screams. 

_Mum? Lily?_ Harry didn’t know when he’d started calling Lily and James by their actual names, but it felt right. It felt natural that he call the people who gave him life his parents. He also didn’t know how Lily and James had come to have him; for all he knew they were his kidnappers. It hurt slightly to think so ill of them, but he had no one to ask about how they’d ended up with him. Sirius was dead and Remus, Remus was off somewhere in the werewolf packs, last he heard. Peter was off sniveling at the feet of a wannabe Dark Lord, so Harry considered him indefinitely out of reach. Harry also considered Peter a dead man walking since he was likely to curse first and ask questions later whenever he laid eyes on Wormtail again.

“Mum will be happy that you remember her song. Her mum sang it to her, she sang it to us, and she hopes that we’ll sing it to our kids. She keeps asking Marcus when he’ll settle down and he keeps saying that he hasn’t found the right person,” Iulia said. “I think he’s right, we’ve all hated his last few girlfriends. I think Mum’s a bit biased, she had Marcus when she was nineteen after all.”

“How old is Marcus now? Is that normal, having a kid so young?” Harry asked. He thought nineteen was quite young to be having a kid, but he was also very aware that Lyonesse might have some cultural differences that he was unaware of. Harry felt like he was at a distinct disadvantage, he knew nothing of the kingdom his family ruled, nothing of its history and culture. Harry was, as ever, desperate to learn what he could before his birthday so he wouldn’t be a complete disappointment. 

“By Elenta, no. It’s quite unusual. Marcus is twenty-two by the way, he’ll be twenty-three next month. Anyway, Mum and Dad grew up together, they were in the same class at school. By the time they were eighteen, she had decided that Dad was the one for her. They got married and Marcus came along a year later. At the time, no one expected Dad to ever have to take the crown, so our grandfather was okay with it. Then the shark attack happened and Dad ended up ruling a kingdom at twenty years old with a pregnant wife and a toddler on hand.”

“Elenta? Shark attack?” Harry was already feeling like this conversation might lead to an information overload, but he had the next week to process it. 

“Elenta is similar to your Merlin, I suppose. She was the first Mer, or at least the first documented one. She’s often confused with Elena, who was the first Mer Queen and the one who brought us to Lyonesse once living Above became too dangerous. The story goes…” Iulia trailed off, her forehead furrowed in thought. “On second thought, I’ll let Dad tell you that one. He loves telling it; it’s always a spectacle when he goes down to the markets for a storytelling session.”

“And the shark attack?”

“Right, the shark attack,” Iulia said. “Do you want to sit down first?” she gestured toward the set of four lounge chairs crowded around a rickety, off-white table, protected from the sun by a canopy cover jutting out from the wall.

Harry agreed, privately relieved to be retreating into the shade. He was feeling the heat and his pale skin was showing it. Harry had surreptitiously compared his hand to Iulia’s and Marius’ last night. They were both the same sickly white shade, so Harry assumed it was another byproduct of him regaining his true appearance. 

“Mum was pregnant with me at the time, so I don’t have any first-hand knowledge,” Iulia began. Harry stopped his mind from wandering down a different track and concentrated on his sister. 

“Grandfather Caeso and Dad’s older brother, Uncle Metus, went on a shark hunt with some Captains of the Guard. It was supposed to be an easy hunt, kill one shark and be back home in time for dinner. All the intel they had gotten from scouts said that this shark was alone, so they went in a group of four. They found the shark they were after and were about to attack when a second shark came up behind them. It killed the first Guardsman before they realized what was going on. The first shark bit into Uncle Metus while they were distracted and Grandfather Caeso got injured trying to free him. The second Guardsman got them both out of there and swam like hell for Lyonesse, hoping that the wards would stop the sharks tailing them once they crossed the border. The wards held, but Uncle Metus died during the trip back. Grandfather Caeso held on long enough to officially abdicate the throne and give his crown to the next in line, our father. Grandmother Galla was his first choice, but she wanted no part of the crown if he was gone. That’s still her stance to this day.”

“That’s horrible,” Harry said. He meant it too, he could imagine all too well how it felt to have your family ripped apart. He’d witnessed it happen to several Hogwarts students as the result of ‘freak accidents’ that Harry believed was the work of Voldemort. Ever since the Ministry fiasco, Voldemort had become much more open with his attacks. No one doubted he was back this time. 

“Dad’s a good king, but he’s still a scholar at heart. He doesn’t like politics and neither does Marcus,” Iulia admitted. 

“Can Marcus not give up his spot in the line of succession?” 

“Not unless there’s a legitimate reason disqualifying him from being able to govern.”

“That doesn’t seem fair,” Harry protested.

“It’s the way it works,” Iulia shrugged. “Marcus has known for years that he’ll be taking over from Dad when Dad steps down and he’s prepared accordingly. He accepts it.”

“I suppose,” Harry said, fidgeting with the wristband on his watch. He looked down at the face, then at the bed in the hotel room where Marius was passed out, snoring loud enough to wake the dead. 

“Why isn’t Marius up yet? It’s half past one.”

“Hm?” Iulia leaned forward to catch a glimpse of the sleeping Marius. “Oh, he’s just recharging. He might have overdone it yesterday with two ports and sending a message to Mum and Dad. Usually two ports and a single message wouldn’t even make a dent in his power reserves, but everything changes when we’re Above. It takes a lot more magic to do a lot less.”

“When did he find time to send a message?” Harry asked, startled. Marius hadn’t let Harry out of his sight ever since they had left the Dursleys. 

“We have our ways,” Iulia winked. 

“Feel like letting me know what those ways are?”

Iulia laughed. “It’ll be more fun to let him show you.”

“Great. More surprises,” Harry deadpanned. 

“You’ll like this one, I promise. It’s fun, I wouldn’t let him mess with you if it wasn’t,” Iulia assured him. “He’s not the youngest Guard member for nothing, he earned his position fairly, but he still enjoys his moments of fun.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Harry said. It seemed like he was taking a lot on faith these days, but it wasn’t like he could do much else. 

“Can I continue with the interrogation then?” asked Harry. 

Iulia laughed, sitting all the way back in her chair and tucking her hands behind her head. “Ask away, dear brother.”

A chill went down Harry’s spine at those words. _Brother_. He’d never been someone’s brother. Friend, comrade, peer, but never brother. He didn’t know how to be one. He didn’t know if people expected something from him as the lost prince; for him to act a certain way or to know everything about Lyonesse as if he’d actually grown up there. Thankfully, Iulia didn’t seem like she expected anything from Harry other than to just be there. 

A beat of silence. Two. “What were those stones you and Marius used to cast magic?” Harry asked. 

“This?” Iulia drew out a piece of stone roughly shaped like an oval that seemed to have a soft glow emanating from within. The stone had a faint purple hue running along the surface. “This is my focus stone. We each get one when we turn ten. I’ll spare you the details of how they work and leave that for Elara. By the way, don’t be surprised if she chucks your wand out the nearest window when you meet her.”

“And Elara is?”

“I’m sorry, I keep forgetting that you don’t know anyone from Lyonesse,” she apologized. “Elara is the one who makes everyone’s focus stones. She hates wands because everyone Above uses them as a crutch rather than a tool for their magic.” 

Harry removed his wand from his pocket, rolling it between his fingers. He was used to his holly wand, it had been there for him every time he was facing mortal peril. He didn’t know how he felt about giving it up. 

He had to ask, “Will she dislike me because I use a wand?”

Iulia shook her head in denial. “You’ve lived Above since you were one, you never knew any better. She’ll just be glad that you’re back, mostly because she loves making a new sale. She takes pride in her work. If you meet anyone Below who judges you based on what you know or don’t know about us, point them to me or Marius. We’ll sort them out.” A feral grin unfolded on her face, making Iulia look more dangerous than Harry had ever seen her.

“Who are we sorting out?” Marius poked his head outside, his hair still mussed up from sleeping. 

“Anyone who so much as looks at Harry the wrong way when we get back to Lyonesse,” Iulia said.

“Ah, in that case, count me in,” he said cheerfully, plopping himself down in the chair next to Harry. “Could use the practice.”

“Why do you both call me Harry?” asked Harry, suddenly. Hearing Iulia say ‘Harry’ just sounded wrong. “I mean, you said Harry wasn’t my birth name, right?” he directed to Iulia. 

Surprised, Iulia and Marius made eye contact over Harry’s head. 

“Well,” Iulia said slowly, “Your birthday isn’t Harry, yes, it’s Hadrian Valens Aurelius. Marcus called you Rian one day and it just stuck. We’ve referred to you as Rian when we talk about you, but you wouldn’t know to respond to that name.”

“We figured you would look at us like we were crazy if we walked up calling you Rian and spouting tales about an underwater city,” Marius said. “To say we were surprised when we found out that our missing Rian was Harry Potter would be an understatement. As far as you knew, your name was Harry, therefore we used that.”

Harry immediately groaned, “You mean to tell me you had heard of me before you started searching?”

“Yep,” Marius grinned. “We keep tabs on the situation Above just in case there’s ever a chance something would affect us. Nothing ever does, but back then we got regular reports from Alder about Voldemort’s rise to power. Then one day he told Cal about this baby named Harry Potter who had managed to defeat him.”

“No one ever thought you had defeated him on your own, Dad thought there were other forces in play. Your name is still fairly well known, though.” Iulia said. 

“Only a few people know that Rian and Harry Potter are one in the same,” Marius said, seeing Harry’s mood get worse and worse the longer they talked.

“They’ll all find out when I get there, though,” Harry said dejectedly. He didn’t want his first impression Below to be the fact that he did something weird when he was a baby and ended up defeating a Dark Lord. 

“Unless,” Iulia said, worrying her bottom lip, “Unless we call you Rian. No one Below knows what Harry Potter looks like. They’ll never put it together.”

Harry perked up a bit at that. _Rian_. _Rian Aurelius_. He tested the name out in his head. It felt right, like he was accepting that he didn’t belong to the wizarding world anymore. He had never fit in or really ever been a normal person to them, but perhaps in Lyonesse he could start over. He would still be a prince, but that was a small price to pay for a new beginning. A clean slate. 

“I like that; Rian, it sounds nice.”

“Ha!” Iulia exclaimed. “Thank you, Rian, Marius owes me a Galleon now.”

“Laugh it up Princess, I’ve got you right where I want you,” said Marius. He casually examined his fingernails and flicked a bit of dust off the table. 

Iulia scowled at him and held out her hand. “One Galleon, Marius. We agreed.”

“I guess we did,” he grumbled. He pulled a money pouch out of his pocket and tossed a single Galleon over the table. Iulia deftly caught it and rolled it over her knuckles with a smug grin.

“You bet on my name?” asked Rian. Admittedly, hearing Iulia call him ‘Rian’ had eased the tugging in his chest pulling him toward the sea, but only slightly. 

“We had to spend a lot of time together in planning meetings. Your mind wanders,” Marius shrugged.

“We didn’t mean anything by it. This Galleon has changed hands between us more times than I can count,” Iulia stopped playing with it and placed it on the table. “I’m sorry, I just thought that once you found out you have a home with us, you’d like to use your birth name.” 

Rian picked up the Galleon, giving Iulia a sidelong glance. She looked genuinely concerned that she had offended Rian, something that pleased him. No one had ever apologized for speaking out of turn with him. 

The Galleon in his hand felt weird and Rian bent his head to examine it. It was made of gold and was roughly the same size as a wizarding galleon, but that was where the similarities ended. One side of the coin held a raised profile of the head of a woman wearing a circlet, her hair unbound and flowing over her shoulders. Flipping the coin over, Rian saw that the back held another raised image, this time of a hippocampus with its forelegs raised and tail curved back. An unfamiliar script ran around the edges, only broken by the words ‘One Galleon’ centered above the head of the woman and the hippocampus. 

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it,” Rian said, giving the coin back to his sister. He would be a hypocrite if he judged them for betting.

“Thanks,” Iulia said gratefully, taking the coin and poking it through the opening of her own money pouch. 

“And now that Marius is finally awake, we can talk about the plan to get you back to Lyonesse in more detail,” she said, waving at Marius to begin talking.

“Ah yes, that,” said Marius, dropping his pretentious air. He leaned forward, getting serious. Rian recognized this Marius from last night, when they were leaving the Dursleys house. Marius had been unyielding, firm and harsh in his words. Seeing it again reminded Rian of the fact that Marius was technically the bodyguard for both him and Iulia. 

“We would normally just port into Lyonesse from the shallows if this was a normal mission, but nothing about this is normal,” Marius began. “For one, we don’t know if the wards will let Rian in. We don’t even know if the magical boost he’ll get from turning seventeen will let him transform,” he grimaced. Marius was clearly uncomfortable with so many unknowns, while Rian was just trying to keep up. 

Rian was still struggling with the fact that he’d lost a year of his life in the span of a day. Iulia and Marius clearly hadn’t expected that Rian didn’t know his own birthday, so the fault could clearly be laid at the feet of whoever stole him from his parents. 

Rian processed the rest of what Marius had just said. “Why wouldn’t the wards let me in?” he asked.

“The wards cover the entire city and are configured to let in anyone who was born in Lyonesse and anyone who has a permanent residence in the city. The only reason that the second condition is there is in case a surprise birth happens when the mum is outside the city borders, which rarely happens. The kid has to be manually added to the wards in that case, but I digress,” Iulia explained. She tapped her fingers on the table in a pattern, which Rian assumed was a nervous tic of hers. 

Marius raised an eyebrow at her hand and took over the explanation, “You were born in Lyonesse, but you haven’t been there for sixteen years. You’ve also had your Mer form bound for at least two years, probably longer. No one has ever been outside the wards for longer than a year, so we don’t know if the wards will let you back in if we try to port in. We don’t want to run the risk of you getting bounced off the wards and sent to who knows where.”

“Why do you think my Mer form has been bound for at least two years?” asked Rian. That number seemed oddly specific. 

“There was a tournament thing that happened two years ago, right?” Marius asked.

Rian’s gut instinctively clenched. That blasted tournament. “Yes,” he gritted out.

“Right, well, when we realized the person we were looking for was Harry Potter, Cal asked Alder to send him any information he had on you. Alder then asked his son for any extra knowledge he had about you since his son is apparently in your year. There was a whole section on the Triwizard Tournament in the papers Alder sent.” Marius said. 

“Mum ranted for a good hour when she got to the part with the dragon,” Iulia added. “Good job with that, by the way.”

“Alder said you spent more than an hour underwater for the second task, using Gillyweed to breathe. If your form hadn’t been bound, you should have transformed after five minutes of being fully underwater, no matter what. But you didn’t, so we know your form was bound by that point, but we don’t know when the binding was originally placed,” Marius continued, ignoring Iulia’s interruption.

Rian was a little annoyed by the invasion of his privacy, but he understood the need for it. He was also slightly relieved that he wouldn’t have to explain all of his adventures to his parents, and hopefully his Mum would have calmed down about the dragon by the time he met her.

“The point is, porting straight there is out,” Marius summed up. “The best I can do is port us to the nearest sentry station. We can swim the rest of the way to the ward boundary, it’s not too far away. We’ll have to stop by Aren’s station first since you can only port to a station from a station, security and all that.”

“Sentry stations?” 

“The Guard has a network of stations that are manned year-round to look out for threats to Lyonesse,” Marius explained. “The closest one to us is Aren’s. He’s posted pretty close to the surface. We can’t get to him from this beach though, I’ll port us to Climping Beach for the transformation. It’s secluded and pretty rocky, so I highly doubt any Muggles will be hanging out there at ten p.m.”

“Will Alder be there?” asked Iulia. 

“I sent him a message,” Marius nodded, “I haven’t heard back but I’m confident he’ll be there. If he’s not, I’ll just leave our clothes in the usual spot and he will collect them later.” 

“Sounds like you guys have got this all worked out,” Rian said weakly. It seemed like a solid plan on the surface, but he was still concerned about everything that could go wrong. 

Iulia laughed, “If something goes wrong, that’s why we have Marius with us. The man has backup plans for his backup plans, and contingency plans for his backup backup plans.”

Rian swiveled his head to look at Marius, who grinned unrepentantly. He had divested himself of his shirt at some point during their conversation, which left him in just his jeans. Marius was clearly very fit, something Rian couldn’t help but appreciate. 

Rian quickly looked back down at his own hands, distracting himself by twiddling his thumbs. Marius was there for protection, not for him to ogle. 

“I can’t wait to get back home,” Iulia sighed, undoing her braid and running her fingers through her thick black hair. “You feel it too, don’t you Marius?”

“The call is getting stronger,” said Marius. With that, he unceremoniously put his feet up on the table and leaned back, content to relax in the shade. 

Rian unconsciously brought his hand up to chest. Now that he knew what the insistent tugging was, it made sense. It was a call leading him home.

Home at last.

* * *

_Wednesday, August 1, 1996_

**10:15 pm**

“Do you think they’ve reached him yet?” Lucia fretted. Her blue tail swished as she crossed from one side of the room to the other. It was late enough that she should have been in bed with Callum, but her worry instincts had gone into overdrive the minute she saw her daughter and Marius port away. 

“We won’t know until Marius contacts us. Please relax, they know what they’re doing, I promise,” Cal said, slipping out from the covers on their bed and joining his wife at the window. He slid his arms around her waist and she leaned back into his chest. They stood like that for a while, looking out upon their city and its gleaming streets. 

“It’s our little boy, Cal. Our Hadrian. How can I not worry?” she said quietly. “Sixteen years he’s been Above. Sixteen years of danger! By Elenta, he fought a dragon at fifteen,” Lucia buried her head in her husband’s chest. 

Callum held her close and looked around his room. The bed in the center that Trajan had jumped on so many times, the lantern in the corner that Iulia had broken multiple times, the books that Marcus borrowed for ‘light reading’, the jewelry pieces that Cassia loved to play with, all the things that Hadrian should have experienced as he grew up. Instead, there was a silent, darkened nursery with a door that hadn’t been opened since he’d been stolen. Ripped from their arms in the middle of the night. 

Callum bowed his head, his chin resting on his wife’s head. They were so close to getting their child back, so close to healing the void his absence had left. He absentmindedly patted her head, squishing the brown curls that poked up. 

Callum carried Lucia over to their bed, covering them both with the filmy material that made up their blankets. “They’ll be okay. They’ll all be okay,” he said, mostly to himself.

“They’d better be, I’ll throttle anyone who hurts them,” Lucia said firmly, her voice muffled by Cal’s chest. 

Cal opened his mouth to speak, but he was cut off by another voice ringing out in the quiet room. “Guardsman Marius Mercator to King Callum Aurelius and Queen Lucia Aurelius and no other.”

Callum and Lucia both jolted, looking for the source. Lucia saw it first; a bubble was floating just before them, displaying a distorted image of Marius’ head. 

“This is it,” Lucia said. She reached for Cal’s hand and squeezed it hard. Cal’s breath caught as he stared at the tiny bubble that represented the culmination of years of hopes and dreams. 

Cal popped the bubble with a surprisingly steady hand and the royal couple steeled themselves as the popped bubble expanded to show Marius standing on a beach, dressed in the strange garments of the Above. 

“Guardsman Marius Mercator to King Callum Aurelius and Queen Lucia Aurelius and no other,” Marius repeated. “Everything is going to plan so far, Hadrian is currently in the hotel room with Iulia. We retrieved him from Privet Drive, where he was staying with some of the most unpleasant people I have ever had the misfortune to meet. Iulia used a binding spell on them, they won’t be talking about him anytime soon. Hadrian’s taking everything pretty well, he’s got a lot of questions as expected. We are still on track to attempt a transformation and return to Lyonesse on August tenth.”

At this point, Marius couldn’t hold his serious demeanor any longer and grinned widely, bouncing on his heels. “He looks just like you, Lucia! Hair and eyes and everything. I can’t wait to see his Mer form, it ought to be a thing of beauty. Have I mentioned I hate being on legs?” Marius frowned at his own legs, kicking at something just out of sight. 

“I, er,” he cleared his throat, “Apologize for my loss of composure. Expect our return on the tenth. _Finite._ ” 

The screen dissolved without a trace when Marius ended the message. 

“They have him. He’s with them, he knows about us,” Lucia said disbelievingly, still clutching Cal’s hand. 

“I told you everything would be fine. I said he’d be the spitting image of you; he took after you even as a baby,” Cal said fondly, bringing his wife’s hand up to his mouth to kiss. 

“Nine days more, and he’ll be with us again,” said Lucia. She laughed giddily, overcome with emotion at the thought that she would be able to hold her baby boy again. 

“That he will. Can we go to bed now, Luce? It’s been a long day for us,” Cal said. 

“The result was well worth a long day, but I suppose we must sleep,” Lucia said, lying back down on the bed and tugging Cal down with her.

“Good night, love.”

* * *

It was nearing half past ten and Marcus still couldn’t sleep. He threw his pen down beside his book with a sigh of disgust, glaring at the glow worms on his desk when they chittered in their cage. 

He couldn’t stop thinking about Rian. He’d pushed hard to be allowed to retrieve Rian from Above, but his Dad wouldn’t budge. As the Heir, Marcus couldn’t risk himself like that. 

“ _Heir_ ,” he muttered darkly. He didn’t care if he was the Heir or not, but Rian was his little brother. A brother he’d missed dearly. 

Marcus gave up on finishing his book and swam over to the nightstand tucked into the corner of his room. The top drawer held various bits and bobs, things that he’d found lying around the city that had caught his interest, but the bottom drawer only held one thing. 

Marcus sunk down to the floor, curled his tail under him, and gingerly opened the bottom drawer. He picked up the picture inside and flipped it over. 

A young Marcus stared up at him, grinning toothily. In that Marcus’ arms was a baby Rian, grabbing fistfuls of Marcus’ hair and tugging. To his credit, the young Marcus didn’t wince once. 

What would Rian be like when he returned? Would he be quiet and studious like himself? Loud and outgoing like Trajan? Smart and fierce like Iulia? Energetic and bubbly like Cassia? He didn’t know, but he would take Rian as he was. 

Marcus leaned against the wall, staring at the small loop of time captured on the paper. He remembered that day well, it had been a week before his parents had taken Rian Above for the traditional trip all babies went on when they turned one. His Dad had banned the trips when Rian had been taken. The only people still allowed to travel Above were members of the Guard.

The months after Rian’s kidnapping had been a dark time for him. Marcus had shut himself up in his room and hardly spoke to anyone. Even now, Marcus wasn’t a very talkative person. Rian had been a happy baby, always wanting to be held by someone. If Lucia wasn’t able to hold him, Rian cried until Marcus picked him up. 

It had thrilled Marcus to take care of his baby brother, especially since Iulia hadn’t wanted anything to do with him at the time. Trajan hadn’t known any better and followed Iulia everywhere. 

All Marcus had ever wanted was his brother back. He’d returned from a trip to see Elara to a palace in chaos. It hadn’t taken long to discover what had everyone in an uproar. Marcus hadn’t let himself believe it at first, but as more information trickled in, Marcus had gotten his hopes up that maybe, just maybe, Rian was coming home at last.

Marcus placed the picture face up on the nightstand. Maybe it was time to let go of the pain of the past.

“Good luck, Iulia,” he said to the empty room. 

* * *

Trajan was lying on his bed, throwing a ball back and forth between his hands. He’d seen Marius and Iulia off on their mission earlier in the day and he’d been unable to focus on anything else since. 

Trajan didn’t have many memories of his brother since he had only been three years old when Rian was taken. He remembered tickling Rian’s belly and getting bright peals of laughter in return, carefully feeding his brother under his mum’s supervision, and shock when Rian had once grabbed a fistful of his curls and pulled hard. 

Not much else was clear in his memories, but the stories told every year on Rian’s birthday helped to fill in some of the blanks. He sometimes felt guilty that he couldn’t remember as much about his younger brother as Marcus or Iulia could. The one time he’d voiced that thought, they had both been quick to reassure him that it wasn’t his fault. 

He still missed Rian, it was hard not to. His family wasn’t complete without Rian. _He_ wasn’t complete without Rian. Being a big brother was a job Trajan had taken seriously and maybe he’d overcompensated for Rian’s loss by being incredibly overprotective of Cassia, and he didn’t regret that. 

Trajan might have been known as the joker in the family, but he could be serious when the situation called for it. This was one of those times. The next few days would be a waiting game, and hopefully at the end they could celebrate Rian’s birthday with the birthday boy himself at the table. 

* * *

Cassia smiled as she ran her fingers through Ebony’s mane. Everyone in the castle had been distracted lately, so she’d taken advantage of that to sneak her pet hippocampus into her room. 

She knew why they were distracted of course; Rian was coming home. Cassia had never met her older brother, but she’d seen the pictures in her mum’s bedroom and the ones in Iulia’s locket. 

She didn’t know what to expect from this new sibling, but she was excited to meet him. Cassia also knew how much it had hurt her family when Rian had been kidnapped and hoped that having him back could heal that void. 

Cassia had chafed under all the restraints put on her ‘for her own safety’ during her childhood. She didn’t blame her parents for doing it, nor did she blame Rian, but she still hated it every time she wanted to go out to the city alone and had to bring a Guard with her. Marius had been her favorite, but now he was Above and Cassia was stuck at home.

Ebony suddenly whinnied and Cassia quickly shushed her, not wanting to get caught. Ebony wiggled a bit in her lap and eventually settled in. Cassia leaned against the headboard of her bed and smiled, continuously petting Ebony’s head. 

Maybe having Rian back would convince her parents that she would be safe without some of their rules. Maybe Rian would stand up for her. 

Or maybe Rian would just be there for her when she needed him. That was really all she could ask for. Trajan wasn’t good with emotional females and Marcus was busy all the time. Iulia tried to make time for her, but she was always whisked away by Marius and Trajan during one of their schemes. 

They all loved her in their own way, though. Nothing could beat Marcus’ bear hugs. Trajan was always finding shiny things around the city and giving them to her. Iulia would always braid her hair whenever she asked. That was the way her family worked.

When he got back, Cassia was determined to ambush Rian the first chance he got and ask him about living Above. She had never been Above, not even on the trip all babies were supposed to get. She’d never been able to walk on her own legs. 

Having Rian back could only be a good thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The lyrics in the lullaby that Harry (Rian) and Iulia sing are from Song of the Sea by Nolwenn Leroy. I made some minor changes so the lyrics would fit with an underwater city. I tried to write my own lullaby but it ended up being six stanzas long and it didn't flow nearly as well.
> 
> Deceased OCs  
> Elenta - The first documented Mer. Her name is used as a swear, like the way those Above use Merlin.  
> Elena - The first Mer Queen and founder of Lyonesse.  
> Caeso Aurelius - Father of Callum and grandfather of Harry. Killed in a shark attack during a hunt gone wrong.  
> Metus Aurelius - Brother of Callum and Uncle to Harry. Killed in a shark attack during a hunt gone wrong.
> 
> Living OCs  
> Galla Tatiana Aurelius  
> Age: 77  
> Birthday: April 29, 1919  
> Appearance: Silver hair, blue eyes, burnished red tail.  
> Mother of Callum and grandmother of Harry. Former Queen of Lyonesse. Dotes on her grandkids.
> 
> Elara Anluan - The crafter of focus stones for Mers.  
> Age: 56  
> Birthday: June 15, 1940  
> Appearance: Dark brown hair, green eyes, green tail.  
> The crafter of focus stones for Mers.
> 
> Aren Byron  
> Age: 28  
> Birthday: October 11, 1967  
> Appearance: Red hair, blue eyes, blue tail.  
> Member of the Guard currently posted as a sentry.
> 
> I have a Discord server for my fics! Join for discussions about cloning, procrastination, google translate, and general mayhem.  
> https://discord.gg/PhguAGRTPs


End file.
